LET THE GAMES BEGIN
By andy | February 15th, 2010
Soldier is excited that the 2010 games have kicked off! In preparation for the events Soldier worked with our friends at Spyder to design a collection of caps to help you show your national pride. We are excited to be working with Spyder on a variety of initiatives and look forward to sharing more with you in the future! Spyder sponsors both the US and Canadian Alpine teams as well as the Jamaican Ski Team so be sure to cheer for your country on hill.
WHY YOU SHOULD START A COMPANY IN BOSTON BY FAST COMPANY
By Bobby Riley | February 2nd, 2010
A complete cut and paste is not exactly the Soldier style, but this article is solid. Soldier has been blessed by the East Coast creative currency and entrepreneurial spirit that is true of our location. This article begins to speak into this truth and sets a nice precident for continued discussion, where we can definitely swing the pendulum towards the subject of brand development, consumer experience and ultimately the subject of significant influence.
BY: LAURA RICHMon Feb 1, 2010
It used to be, you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But emerging entrepreneurial hubs around the country are giving startup aspirants options. In this series, we talk to leading figures in those communities about what makes them tick. Here, part four of our series.
In the pre-Internet era of tech startups, Boston’s Route 128 rivaled Silicon Valley with mammoth hardware hotshots like Digital Equipment Corp., Honeywell, EMC and Data General. But when the Internet and its new business models arrived, Boston faded, as the excitement, new ideas and, most importantly, the investment capital coalesced around the Valley.
Now Boston is back. It has never lacked for a community of smart people drawn to its world-class universities in Harvard and MIT. And it has long boasted the second largest center of venture capital. Boston can now also claim big Internet hits like Facebook, Akamai and TripAdvisor–providing the market with a boost of energy, and experienced entrepreneurs rallying angel activity. Additionally, it is benefiting from a robust moment for life sciences businesses by tapping its research hospitals. Once more Boston is bustling–and it’s giving Silicon Valley a run for all that venture money.
Jeff Bussgang, a VC with Flybridge Capital Partners, recently spoke with FastCompany.com about what makes Boston’s startup scene unique.
Why are you bullish on Boston?
I think there are a handful of ingredients that are required [to ignite the startup community] and I think Boston is really unique on a couple of them. So the one generic ingredient is, you need intellectual property. You need invention–science and technology–and innovation to be occurring. What I think is incredibly unique about Boston is that the university system generates so much IP. Between Harvard and MIT, between the hospital systems, there’s an extraordinary amount of IP and innovation being generated and in a large part by people–and institutions–who are now experienced at commercialization.
So what’s nice about MIT and Harvard and the hospital systems is that there are decades now of experience and hundreds of companies that have gone from labs to market and so if you’re a promising post-doc or PhD student with a really good idea, you don’t have to invent the mechanism or the process to take that idea and find the necessary pieces to actually creating a company. It’s really easy because there are so many people around you who have done it before and so many resources around for that.
How does the hospital system contribute to Boston’s entrepreneurial ecosystem?
Health care comprises 18% of gross domestic products in America and is going up, and science is a massive investment and innovation area in the startup world. I think Boston is very unique in that we’ve got this extraordinarily rich and diverse hospital system and I think we have seven or eight teaching hospitals within a two-mile radius. That results in fantastic science and basic research being done in the areas of cancer and oncology and orthopedics and every imaginable area, which results in really innovative medical devices and biotech companies.
This little state attracts so much NIH funding because it all pours into these teaching hospitals and that’s the reason you get the Genzymes and the Boston Scientifics of the world–we’ve got these huge companies that have emerged and do acquisitions and are fueled by a lot of the research and that will lead to another important element I’ll mention which is having the big companies around you. But just to stay on the IP–that’s really what’s so fantastic about Boston: there’s always new IP being generated so when clean tech emerges–which didn’t exist ten years ago, but now suddenly is this big wave of innovation–we’ve got this incredible laboratory system to generate innovation in clean tech and environmental sciences.
How else is Boston in a position to attract entrepreneurs?
I think you need a really vibrant venture capital community and you need a set of resources around the venture capital community that knows how to take things from idea to product. One of those is angels and mentors, experienced entrepreneurs in the culture of success. You need lawyers, you need accountants, you need real estate systems, flexibility in the real estate system. You need all of these things that just make it really easy to reduce friction. The key thing in startups is you want to reduce friction. And, you know, Boston has the second largest venture capital community in the world, the number one per capita. I made the point in my presentation that if there was more venture capital in China than in Massachusetts and you were an entrepreneur, where would you want to be? If there was two times the venture capital in China than in Massachusetts but a thousand times the population, you’d want to be in Massachusetts.
It used to be, you were serious about starting a tech company, you went to Silicon Valley. But emerging entrepreneurial hubs around the country are giving startup aspirants options. In this series, we talk to leading figures in those communities about what makes them tick. Here, part four of our series.
The third thing you need are big companies because the big companies train the entrepreneurs on how to be good managers, because to really learn the skill of building a valuable company, it’s great to go through the process and get people who have the experience of running a hundred million dollar business unit or building and selling a billion dollar company or taking companies public and recycling that talent. [In Boston], you have people who have seen success from end to end, like the early entrepreneurs at EMC or the early entrepreneurs at Akamai–if they are there from one dollar to a billion dollars, they know how to do it again.
Are there any examples of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in action, with all of these elements?
You may have heard of Tom Stenberg, the founder and CEO of Staples? So Tom was in Boston, started Staples in Boston, built it into a multi-billion dollar company, took it public, very successful. And then he started being an angel investor to other entrepreneurs.
A couple of his Staples employees started companies and then he started being a venture capitalist and then he started a venture capital fund called the Highland Consumer Fund which is funding consumer retail entrepreneurs.
So why now? What is driving a renewed energy behind Boston’s startup community?
One thing I would say what’s going on now is that what’s happening in media and advertising is helping Boston because of the proximity to New York City. There are a lot of companies in Boston that are like DataXu that have research and development in Boston, but the business development and sales team is in New York. And it’s such an easy shuttle ride. People can commute back and forth and integrate those teams very easily. The R&D team is cheaper and typically easier to recruit, cheaper and stronger and more experienced. It’s harder to build a technology team in New York, I think. But in terms of business development, I mean, New York is where you’ve got to be because that’s where the customers are.
I guess the other [reason] now is that opportunity cost has plummeted for entrepreneurs. If you are a big company executive, you’re likely to get laid off, the benefits aren’t as good as they used to be. You sort of look at the formula and you say, “Geez, why not do something entrepreneurial?” There are a lot more free electrons floating around.
And Boston has got such a strong student community. Every Labor Day, tens of thousands of new young people show up. And if those young people, culturally, have a passion for entrepreneurship, which I think more young people today do than they used to, if entrepreneurship is cool and the Web is cool and new technology is cool, then you’re going to get more Facebooks
CONSUMER EXPERIENCE MATTERS
By Bobby Riley | February 1st, 2010
In the spirit of academia this Monday over looking the Yard of Harvard, I wanted to share some information from our friends over at Forester Research group here in Cambridge, MA. It’s data from the Forester’s 2010 Customer Experience Index. The study has been helpful in giving us some perspective over the past several years towards our brand building innitiatives, which we thought you may also enjoy.
The study ranks 133 organizations across 14 industries: Airlines, Banks, Credit Card Providers, Health Plans, Hotels, Insurance Firms, Internet Service Providers, Investment Firms, Parcel Shipping Services, PC Manufacturers, Retailers, TV Service Providers, Utilities, and Wireless Carriers.
It is based on consumer evaluations during November 2009 across three areas: 1) meeting needs; 2) being easy to work with; and 3) enjoyability. Some key tenants to designing great consumer expereinces to say the least.
Pardon the blurry list.
Barnes & Noble took the top spot for the second year in a row. Something noteworthy is Retailers take 12 out of the top 20 spots. Is there something we can learn here? Most of the top rated companies on the list are retailers. Hotels also grabbed three of the top 20 spots. Because of their consierrge level of service? I also attached a report below that spans across all industries, which illustrates the success retailers are having in creating experience. The data aactually rings true for us at Soldier. Some of the most effective, powerful, lasting and lucrative brand innitiatives that Soldier has been apart of has involved creating expereince at retail. I am sure this data will fuel many more discussions on the blog as I know it will in the walls here at Soldier. Methodology for the study below, if interested.
This analysis was based on responses from 4,653 US consumers during November 2009. The Customer Experience Index was calculated as an average of the indices that came from consumer responses to the following three questions from an online survey:
1. Thinking about your recent interactions with these firms, how effective were they at meeting your needs? (“Meeting Needs” rating)
2. Thinking about your recent interactions with these firms, how easy was it to work with these firms? (“Being Easy To Work With” rating)
3. Thinking about your recent interactions with these firms, how enjoyable were the interactions? (“Enjoyability” rating)
Consumers selected responses along a five-point scale – ranging from a very negative experience (1) to a very positive one (5). The individual indexes were calculated by taking the percentage of consumers who selected one of the top two boxes (4 or 5) and subtracting the percentage of consumers who selected the bottom two boxes (1 or 2).
In order to limit consumer feedback to organizations that consumers are familiar with, we only asked consumers about organizations that they’ve interacted with during the previous 90 days.
While we received feedback on many firms, the CxPi only includes the 133 organizations that had at least 100 consumer responses.
THE STRENGTH OF PEARCE
By Bobby Riley | January 26th, 2010
Our Friend Kevin Pearce was injured snowboarding. We have always been inspired by his style and now by his strength as he recovers. There are a few pages dedicated for family, friends and well-wishers to support his recovery and keep up-to-date on his status. Join us in doing so.
Photo Documentary of The Tannery on Boylston
By Bobby Riley | January 26th, 2010
For those of you who have been tuned into the Soldier Blog know that we have been giving ongoing status updates towards the progress of our ‘full-of-pride’ retail project for The Tannery on Boylston. We announced our involvement last June, provided additional insight and renderings last October , and included some party pictures from a recent Boston Magazine/Grey Goose soft-launch gathering this past December. All said, we confirmed our efforts in a recent photo documentary, which we are excited to share before formalizing it into a case study on soldierdesign.com next month. Love to hear your thoughts, critiques, suggestions, et al. We are now into the third phase of the project, which is the build-out of the basement space, which will be dedicated to innovative, raw, authentic, wild outdoor brands and story telling. The space will have a name of it’s own like The Tannery’s Curated or Concepts™ for those of you who are familiar. It should be sick!
For more images go to Soldier Facebook.
SOLDIER GRABS ON TO FACEBOOK TODAY
By Bobby Riley | January 19th, 2010
Heading into 2010 the Soldier Studio has been experiencing some solid growth and enjoying the new year because of it. With a host of new clients and some game changing projects we will be having many stories to continue to tell and want to invite you in as much as possible.
Join Soldier Facebook
CANADA GOOSE SELECTS TO SHARE
By Bobby Riley | January 14th, 2010
We’ve been getting a fair share of interest lately around our creative partnership with Canada Goose and mostly– How things are going? Honestly, things have been amazing. And for those of you who have been tuned into this blog we’ve been sharing on occasion. Momentum began with Soldier’s positioning, identity creation and design efforts for their newly introduced Thermal Mapping technology and Hybridge™ product collection. The story line carried through to art direction and photography for the entire men’s & women’s product collection on behalf of the 2010 brand campaign, which we captured in the beautiful wilderness of Banff, Canada.
This entry is mostly an update with some our results from the Banff shoot. Below are a few press selects released from the shoot that I wanted to share to entice you all to stay tuned to the brand in the field and more to come from here.
We are now knee deep in creating the design language and environmental experience for Canada Goose: corporate showroom (B2Internal), trade shows (B2Business) and retail locations (B2Consumer).
Stay warm, be well.
CHECK ‘THIS’ OUT
By Bobby Riley | January 12th, 2010
As long time friends and creative partners since 2005, Jeremy & Claire Weiss of Day19 have done some amazing photography work with Soldier involving campaigns shooting Nascar elite, Jimmie Johnson & bad ass TV personality Sig Hansen of Discovery Channels “Deadliest Catch”. Jeremy and Claire have also assisted us in full international brand campaigns ranging from Gargoyles to Canada Goose. Apart from Soldier their portfolio only scales with clients like Converse, EA Sports and Nikon to name a few. I’ve always admired their work for being able to get into the soul of who they shoot, so the viewing audience can actually experience the person in the image as if they somehow knew them personally. Or as we often say at Soldier ”Are they truly along for the journey?”, which in my recollection is easier said than done.
Being the artists and entrepreneurs they are Jeremy & Claire just announced a new venture based out of Los Angeles.
THIS is a group of 5 artists pooling their resources under one roof to provide an outlet for themselves and other creative people. The intention of THIS is to provide a gallery space which brings friends and family together in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles not just for traditional gallery shows, but a venue for artists to speak about their work, to interact with their audience and facilitate a creative atmosphere in the community.
So, join us in congratulating them on their new gig and check This out.
SOLDIER WEEKLY INSPIRATION #1
By Bobby Riley | January 11th, 2010
Although, I am mostly unqualified to post this as a passionate coffee drinker, I must admit this is pretty clever Hanger: Tea packaging by designer: Soon Mo Kang. Memorable form & function and without a doubt everybody loves tee shirts.
SOLDIER PLAYS AT CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW
By Bobby Riley | January 8th, 2010
A few of us from Soldier dropped into the CES show this week in Las Vegas to meet with some of our clients from the consumer electronics world, but more selfishly to play and be inspired by some crazy tech. For those of you who are not familiar, The International CES is the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow. It features 2700 exhibitors like Sony, Microsoft, Samsung, Panasonic and Cannon to name a few. The energy was good, the nights were fun and the gambling was anticlimactic to say the least for team Soldier this year.
There is so much to report on, but as my Mom would say “I can’t go there”. That said, I will share some of my iphone pics & video on some tech that we thought was cool for those of you who did not make the show.
1. Samsung’s 3D LED TVs: In my opinion it was the best 3D TV experiences at the show (and there were many) regarding quality, intent and impact. I had the chance to see the Christmas Carol in 3D IMAX this holiday season with family and I have to say the consumer Samsung 3D LED TV experience was equal if not better. There was also another manufacture making 3D TVs with less resolution that could be experienced without glasses, which I think has some strong value for brand trying to enhance their delivery of visible tech communication.
Dan Vogelzang and Andy Lubets of Soldier Viewing
2. Intel’s Very Large Interactive Touch Screen: The chip maker used a Core i7 chip to aggregate 500 feeds of information into an inspiring cube-matrix interface, which was something strait out of the movie Minority Report. I had alot of fun with it. Lots of potential in the world of story telling with brand.
Intel Ineractive TouchScreen
Intel Touch Screen from Soldier Design on Vimeo.
A very large interactive touch screen using a Core i7 chip, aggregating over 500 feeds for an amazing experience.
3. Holographic Product Advertising: This company Halo Ad, which had a hole in the wall presence at CES, seemed to attract some considerable attention with curious wanderers, including Soldier with their holographic technology to evangelize a cigar manufacturer and the iPhone.
Halographic Advertising from Soldier Design on Vimeo.
This company Halo Ad, which had a hole in the wall presence at CES, seemed to attract some considerable attention with curious wanderers with their holographic technology to evangelize a cigar manufacturer and the iphone.
4. Panasonic Ultra High Definition 152″ Plasma TV: It was amazing to see the 4K 4096 X2160 ratio at that size with absolute crispness. Now the film makers just need to catch up, so we can start enjoying some content on this equipment.
Panasoni 152" Ultra HD Plasma TV
THE NEW YEAR & MISTER EIFFEL
By Bobby Riley | December 28th, 2009
For many of us preparing for the new year is all about taking thoughtful inventory of the sobering 2009 including the hot successes and cold failures with hopes to rule out the insidious lukewarm indifference that kills creativity as we take flight into 2010. Personally, I am working that all out in my world now and also involved in more of the same for Soldier as we enter into our 7th annual retreat, which has a lot to do with self reflection, sense of place and purpose within it. We will explore many subjects including how to create more from just where we’re at to getting more tapped into our vision and gifting in the arena of consumer experience as a brand design firm. We will also be mindful of the position to make culture rather than just taking from it, pandering to it or trailing behind it. And more importantly alligning ourselves relationally with the people and brands doing the same.
In the spirit of preplanning, the love of design, being signifcant, thinking big, lasting power and the brut work required to be truly creative, I hand it over to Mister Eiffel as we all head into 2010. The designs below are reproductions of Eiffel’s original designs included in his book “The 300 Meter Tower”, Lemercier publications, Paris 1900. Learn more.
Something more/ Something greater/ 2010!
New England Swagger From Seattle
By Bobby Riley | December 21st, 2009
New England based footwear company Alden founded in 1884 by Charles H. Alden in Middleborough, Massachusetts has been doing some noteworthy collaborations lately. One that stands out is with Blackbird Seattle an opinion leading purveyor of fashion from the North West. They have taken a strong footwear concept and brought in some beautiful imagery & nostalgia that evokes an emotion that clearly transcends the product. The Christopherson’s Creamery Milkman Boot was inspired by the shiny simple uniform boots that many delivery drivers wore back in day when milk and groceries were delivered. Blackbird imagined the boot worn by the local milkman from Christopherson’s Creamery located on Market Street in Seattle, which is near their shop today. From someone who loves both New England And Seattle, I will be proudly wearing these boots as a gift from a good friend this holiday season. A little role playing and I will convince my wife I am the milkman too.
DENHAM THE STORYTELLERS WHO MAKE JEANS.
By Bobby Riley | December 16th, 2009
A site and story worthy to take note of. Liam, a good friend of mine and fellow ‘purveyor of brand’ just forwarded me the link to what he would humbly refer to as the slightly rusty pre-launch broadcast phase of the new online Denham communication he was deeply involved in creating. It’s also worth mentioning Liam headed up the SS10 Denham product collection, which you can view on the site as well.
Welcome to DENHAM the Jeanmaker´s website. Each card reveals a story which represents one facet of Denham´s vision. Categorised by the collection, garment library, studio & stores, to press reports & the birth of the Cutter´s Council. Designed in time with no beginning nor end, through resourceful innovation and fearless experimentation. It´s a decorated blog. A tailor-made homepage. We hope to fascinate but are equally prepared to frustrate.
As many brands desire, but so seldom do, Denham has managed to transcend their product and even their own message to give us all a truly unique experience.
BOSTON MAGAZINE GATHERING AT THE TANNERY
By Bobby Riley | December 11th, 2009
Soldier received rave reviews at the Boston Magazine gathering at The Tannery on 711 Boylston last night for the overall store design, creation of the Curated Shop on the second floor and the interactive product video catalogs that take a human-sized poportions on the retail floor. The store design created by Soldier was celebrated from many ranging from The Tannery President and Owner Tarek Hassan to Boston Magazines President Randy Hano to a host of other influential footwear and fashion personalities from the Greater Boston Area. Visit the store for yourself when you can and check back to the Soldier site in the next week or so for the complete story behind the creation of The Tannery on Boylston and the designed consumer experience.
And thanks to Grey Goose for the epic ginger/pear cocktails.
LULULEMON & SOLDIER ALIGN
By Bobby Riley | December 10th, 2009
Soldier Design and Lululemon, the yoga-inspired athletic apparel company align on a host of retail and product innitiatives heading into 2010. Excited about the new relationship and opprtunity to create, we look forward sharing more on the spirited executions when available.
THE HYBRIDGE™ BY CANADA GOOSE
By Bobby Riley | December 9th, 2009
Internal Themal Mapping™ Communication Board
Knowing why your brand matters is foundational and is something Canada Goose has in spades, but how that is interpreted, conceptualized and articulated in the marketplace is what the audience will encounter, experience and remember.
Back in September Soldier & Goose announced it’s creative partnership and have since engaged on a host of creative innitiatives, some of which you may be familiar with if you’ve been tuning into our blog recently.
One of the partnering innitiatives has been based on a disruptive product technology on the outdoor front known as Thermal Mapping™ created by Canada Goose.
Soldier worked with Canada Goose to develop and communicate the market-disruptive product innovation with eloquence and ease, creating a clear path to curiosity, belief and buy-in starting with B2I (internal culture) communication at a recent set of sales and marketing meetings to B2B (Wholesaler) settings, where reps present the line to retailers for the up and coming season and the soon to be B2C (Consumer) environment where the intended audience will experience the new story and product collection. Soldier huddled with CG to name the product it serves i.e. Hybridge™ to help align the category amongst the growing CG line and give consumer-facing language to the intended audience including graphic identity, positioning strata, copywriting and technical illustrations to help articulate the amalgamation of technology used towards the newly introduced Hybridge™ product collection heading into 2010.
The hybrid jacket and product collection utilizes ThermalMapping™ technology to bridge goose-insulated core warmth with soft shell flexibility.
Goose down is a soft feather that when compiled becomes the perfect natural insulation. Many small air pockets are formed within the feathers trapping air and creating a barrier between you and the environment around you. It is light weight, soft, and comfortable. It is featured in the Hybridge™ Jacket and has potential to be scaled throughout the CG line.
Thermal Mapping™ is the technology used to strategically distribute and link multi-zone goose down insulation with a high pile fleece backed softshell within one garment to utilize both the warmth and protection of each material without limitations for maximum warmth, flexibility and comfort.
With over 50 years of Arctic proven design, innovation and ingenuity Canada Goose has engineered the hybrid jacket utilizing Thermal Mapping™ technology to bridge goose-insulated core warmth with soft shell flexibility. So whether approaching a righteous ascent or transitioning to basecamp the Hybridge™ Jacket increases you success to regulate warmth, flexibility and comfort.
We will share more on the emerging technology and product as it becomes available by Canada Goose.
CONCEPTS™ BY SOLDIER DESIGN FEATURED IN VERY SMALL SHOPS
By Bobby Riley | December 7th, 2009
In Very Small Shops John discusses how the limitations of a tiny space, rather than inhibiting designers, often result in some of the most innovative and exciting retail design. This book brings together some of the best recent, innovative examples of small store designs from around the world. All the shops measure less than 150 square metres/1,600 square feet (many much less), and are categorized by size (small, smaller and tiny), with explanations and tips from their designers. Types of outlet featured include fashion, accessories, opticians, technology, food and confectionery. Each section begins with an interview with a designer of a small shop, explaining the creative opportunities and difficulties in greater detail. This book will inspire retail designers and small shop owners looking to create their own big statement in a small space.
Concepts has started in 1996 as a ’snow, skate and culture’ boutique; a shop within a shop in The Tannery, a long-established Boston retailer owned by Tarek Hassan. But in 2008, it was decided that the time was right for Concepts to have an identity of its own and to create a dedicated space where the retail experience could be further developed and controlled.As many of its core consumers were ’skaters or hipsters’, and ‘quite judgemental and in the know’, the store needed to look good without seeming to be trying too hard, says Bobby Riley of Soldier Design. What he had hoped to achieve was a deconstructed shop, something underpinned by the store’s main visual effect – wood ribbing that goes right through the space, crossing from wall to ceiling.The visual idea of layers of wood is a reference, none too sublininal, to the laminated wood used for the skateboards of Concept’s original clientele. The visual theme of layers is mirrored in miniature in the apple plywood that makes up the ribs themselves.
At the center of the store, on top of the ribbed table, sits and environmetally EcoSmart open fire, intended to confer a sense of community to the shoppers, as if they were around a campfire or some kind of urban equivelent to a log cabin. Strip lighting hangs from the ceiling in a seemingly haphazard way, intended to prevent the design from appearing too contrived or precious. Using stainless stell for wall fixtures and epoxy for the floor, as if it were a garage, lends a deliberatly ‘rudementary and crude’ quality according to Riley. So, too, does the wool felt that covers the stores wooden seating, which in turn been integrated intothe general ribbed scheme.
At the rear of the space, behind a counter made of white glass, is what appears to be a mini recording studio. It’s a small room enclosed by glass with psuedo soundproofing behind, a furnished with recording equipment that allows celebrities from the worlds of music and sportto record pocasts or similar. ’We wanted to create a live retail space’, says Riley ‘and this was a good way of highlighting the celebrities that shop at the store.’
The ribbing motif is partly retained in the basement, in order to perserve continuity with store upstairs, but the environment here is quite different. Generously proportioned armchairs, in distressed brown leather, are arranged around three further fake fires, on the other side of the wall of zebrawood members’ lockers. Celebrity shoppers can sit backand enjoy a whisky while being presented with items of special-edition clothing.
The sense of being near the action is amplified by the stores basement, which is devoted in its entirety to a private members’ area, accessto which is by invitation only. Membership is offeredto the most valued custmers, but knowledge of its existence gives a sense of aspiration to the other shoppers. Not only are the store’s key-brand clothes different, limited editions that are otherwise unavailable, but the experience in the members’ ‘club’ is intended to be select and unique, too.
Banff is Narnia
By Bobby Riley | December 1st, 2009
Untitled from Soldier Design on Vimeo.
Dan from Soldier and I had a long travel day from Boston to Calgary yesterday and then a sketch drive to Banff last night. Although it was all worth it, becuase this place is like Narnia. We will be in Banff all week for a Canada Goose photoshoot and look forward to keeping you posted with some epic shots of the wilderness.
10 CRUCIAL CONSUMER TRENDS FOR 2010
By Bobby Riley | November 25th, 2009
Trendwatching has recently published 10 trends that will help us all come up with some opinion-leading new products and services in 2010. Below is a summary overview to each trend with a bookending link to go deeper.
Forget the recession: the societal changes that will dominate 2010 were set in motion way before we temporarily stared into the abyss. More »
Urban culture is the culture. Extreme urbanization, in 2010, 2011, 2012 and far beyond will lead to more sophisticated and demanding consumers around the world. More »
Whatever it is you’re selling or launching in 2010, it will be reviewed ‘en masse’, live, 24/7. More »
Closely tied to what constitutes status (which is becoming more fragmented), luxury will be whatever consumers want it to be over the next 12 months. More »
Online lifestyles are fueling and encouraging ‘real world’ meet-ups like there’s no tomorrow, shattering all cliches and predictions about a desk-bound, virtual, isolated future. More »
To really reach some meaningful sustainability goals in 2010, corporations and governments will have to forcefully make it ‘easy’ for consumers to be more green, by restricting the alternatives. More »
Tracking and alerting are the new search, and 2010 will see countless new INFOLUST services that will help consumers expand their web of control. More »
Next year, generosity as a trend will adapt to the zeitgeist, leading to more pragmatic and collaborative donation services for consumers. More »
With hundreds of millions of consumers now nurturing some sort of online profile, 2010 will be a good year to introduce some services to help them make the most of it (financially), from intention-based models to digital afterlife services. More »
2010 will be even more opinionated, risqué, outspoken, if not ‘raw’ than 2009; you can thank the anything-goes online world for that. Will your brand be as daring? More »
SOLDIER ALLIGNS WITH THE BAG MAKER TARGUS
By Bobby Riley | November 23rd, 2009
Original MacBag™ AD by Targus
Soldier is proud to announce it’s alignment with the global bag maker Targus today. Soldier and Targus have worked together over the past few months to forge a meaningful engagement around originality, authenticity and credibility to leverage each others vision and gifting around a desired audience, great design and immersive communication.
The Targus Corporation is a United States-based manufacturer of bags and accessories. The company has 45 offices worldwide and distribution points in 145 counties. It is headquartered in Anaheim, California, USA.
Stay tuned over the next twelve months as we become free to share more.
